This is powers/no powers. Warning for food talk throughout. No eating or sickness or anything. This is mainly about DoorDash.
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“Aw, shit.” Steve drops the Christmas-dinner-in-a-box onto the stove and covers his face with his hands.
“That’s some language,” Bucky says with a laugh. “What’s up with it?” He leaves the sofa and comes to stand at Steve’s side.
“I ordered a turkey.” Steve sighs. “I swear.”
Bucky squints at the label affixed to the aluminum tray.
“I did not order a ham. There must’ve been a mistake.” Steve pulls his phone from his back pocket and opens the app for the delivery service. “See,” he shows Bucky the order receipt. “Turkey.”
“It’s ok,” Bucky says with a shrug. “You can eat the ham. I like mashed potatoes and green beans. Way more than I like matzo balls.”
“It’s all been in the same box, though…” Steve swipes his screen. “I’ll call the restaurant. And the delivery person. This just…” he shakes his head. “Not ok.”
“You know,” Bucky says, putting his hand on Steve’s shoulder, “We don’t have to have a Christmas dinner. Like I didn’t want to fuss with a Hanukkah dinner?”
“What do you want to do?” Steve asks. His thumb hovers above the phone number listed in the app.
“Order Chinese.” Bucky gives a sly smile. “That’s a thing, right?”
“Yeah,” Steve says slowly. “I guess it is kind of a thing.”
Bucky takes Steve’s phone and launches a new search. “Cashew chicken?” he offers. “Mongolian beef?”
“That sounds pretty good.” Steve finally smiles back. “Go for it.”
Bucky selects a restaurant and adds a few dishes to the order. “Delivery in…45 minutes?”
“Sounds good,” Steve laughs. “This dinner thing is way too complicated.”
“We’ll make it easy.” Bucky hits the button to lock in the order. “New tradition, ok? Only Chinese for holidays. All the holidays.”
“Sold.” Steve nods. “I can definitely live with that.”
Whumptober 2022: Day 23 - At the end of their rope
Prompt: Forced to Kneel
Summary: When he and Tim are invited to Luthor’s for dinner, Kon had naively hoped that the man is changing his ways, however he is quickly proven wrong when he Luthor decides a gun is an appropriate item to have at the table.
Enjoy! :D
Kon wishes he knew how they got into this situation. One minute everything was fine – well not fine but it was okay – and then the next Tim is being held at gun point and Kon is left frozen in place out of fear for Tim getting shot.
He has no idea if this was the plan all along and they’ve simply walked straight into the trap, or if this was a spontaneous move made without any thought at all.
Either way, the current situation is that Tim has a gun pressed to his temple while being held in a headlock by Kon’s supervillain dad. Kon really should have seen this coming. Seriously what had he even been thinking when he accepted Luthor’s dinner invitation at one of his premium penthouse apartments. Tim had voiced his concerns but Kon had waved away his opinion because a small part of his brain had naively hoped that Luthor is changing his ways. Clearly he was wrong.
Kon doesn’t believe that Luthor will just outright kill Tim in cold blood, however the man is seedy enough to make it look like an accident had happened and Tim just happened to be a victim of said accident.
Standing opposite the deranged man, Kon holds his hands up showing he’s unharmed (which means nothing as they all know) and ignores the way his heart is pounding inside his chest. Tim appears to be alarmingly calm considering the circumstances, his expression is blank as he grips onto the forearm pressing against his neck. Luthor is currently glaring at Kon as he presses the barrel of the gun to Tim’s temple.
“Luthor, what are you hoping to achieve here?” Kon asks after a long silence.
They had been sitting down for dinner, it had been going well, or at least Kon had thought so, once he finished eating Kon had excused himself to go to the bathroom and when he came back it was to find Tim trapped in a headlock and held at gun point. To say that Kon is confused is a bit of an understatement.
“I’ve calculated that this would be the quickest and most effective way to get you to agree.” Luthor starts to explain. “I decided to wine and dine you under the impression that I’ve changed my ways, that I wanted to get to know my son better, and then I blackmail you out of the blue while holding your boyfriend at gun point until you agree.”
Kon pulls a face at the explanation because it doesn’t answer any of his questions. “Agree to what?”
Clearly Tim is just as confused because at the same time he says, “you are so much smarter to come up with a better plan than that Luthor.”
Luthor ignores Tim and keeps his eyes on Kon, glaring at him. Kon doesn’t miss the way his grip tightens on the handle of the gun.
“To work for me. I need you and it’s about time you fulfil your role and stop playing house with something so trivial.” Luthor sneers at him before sending a disgusted glance at Tim.
At his words Kon feels a surge of anger course through him. He knows he should probably focus on the first part however his mind is hooked on the second part. Any hope he had that Luthor was changing his ways is long gone from his mind now, there’s no way he wants someone in his life who won’t accept Tim, and least of all someone who insults him.
Narrowing his eyes at the man Kon glares and he really has to work to keep his powers in check as he almost lasered Luthor on the spot. “First of all don’t insult Tim. Tim is not trivial. He is the most important person in my life and he is ten times the man you’d ever be. Secondly, my life is none of your business, if I wish to settle down with Tim, to start a family and live domestically, then I sure as hell will do that as I please, I don’t want or need your opinion. Thirdly, go fuck yourself Luthor. I’m never going to work for you.”
Once Kon is done speaking he feels how his heart is thumping away and he could feel how he’s breathing heavier than before. He refuses to acknowledge the blush that’s made it’s way onto his face and he certainly doesn’t look at Tim in fear for what he may find after his confession. Luthor stares at him completely mystified until his expression to one of repulsion.
“That’s cute,” Luthor sardonically comments, “but it doesn’t mean anything. Now, you’re going to work for me and finally do what you were made for.”
Kon grits his teeth in anger and sneers at the man, without thinking about it he steps forward threateningly, “like hell I’m just going to –”
“Ah ah ah!” Luthor exclaims, cocking the gun pointed at Tim’s head, his thumb flicking off the safety. Kon instantly stops in his tracks glaring at the man. “One more step and we’ll really see if I’m bluffing about shooting him.”
Apparently the threat isn’t enough to stop Tim from commenting. “I’ve been through worse.”
“Tim!” Kon scolds. This isn’t the time for Tim to be goading the person who has a gun pressed to his head!
Luthor thankfully ignores him. He carries on staring at Kon and after a moment he waves the gun, gesturing down with it. “You know what… Kneel.”
Kon reels back at the command. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t make me tell you again. Kneel.”
To get his point across Luthor points the gun to Tim’s temple again and this time presses harder with the arm around Tim’s neck, cutting off Tim’s airway. After hearing Tim suck in a strangled breath Kon does what he’s told despite how much he dislikes it.
“Okay, okay,” Kon mutters as he lowers down to the ground. He keeps his hands visible and once he’s settled he raises an eyebrow at Luthor, “happy Loki?”
Luthor doesn’t react to the jab but he does ease up on the hold on Tim. That seems to be the wrong move because Tim doesn’t waste the opportunity to make a quip. “I’m actually quite honoured you see me as a threat Luthor.”
For the first time Luthor acknowledges Tim, he rolls his eyes and looks down at him in his arms. “Oh please you’re a gnat in my empire, you mean nothing Wayne.”
“Sure.” Tim hums undeterred. “That’s why you’re holding me hostage and not Kon because you know you have no leverage over Kon unless you have me. This is really a waste of everyone’s time Luthor.”
Luthor isn’t pleased with Tim. His expression changes again and suddenly he pressing harder on Tim’s neck, making it difficult for him to breathe. Not able to witness his boyfriend in pain Kon gets his attention.
“Look, I’m here just let him go dammit, and we can talk Luthor.”
The man goes to say something but he's stopped when a door opens on the other side of the room. From his position on the floor Kon looks over his shoulder to find Mercy walking through the room heading straight for Luthor. Once there she leans in close and whispers something in his ear. Luthor listens intently for a while and thankfully while he does he relaxes his hold on Tim allowing his boyfriend to breathe easily again. After a moment Mercy pulls away and heads back out of the room, Luthor watches her go and only after she’s left the room does he return his attention back onto them.
Abruptly letting Tim go, he pushes him away before straightening up his suit jacket. “It appears that I have more important matters to deal with right now. Fortunately for you.” He pulls a face, clearly unhappy with this new development. “You’re free to go but of course I’ll eventually come find you. Kon-El this conversation isn’t over. We’ll talk soon.”
Then just like that he’s walking away, tucking the gun into the waistband of his trousers as he exits the room, all without once looking back at them.
Kon turns to Tim blinking at him in confusion. “What the fuck just happened?”
Shrugging Tim makes his way over to Kon who’s still kneeling on the floor. “I have no idea but it was very anticlimactic to say the least.”
“Are you okay?” Kon asks eyeing up Tim’s slightly red neck.
Rolling his eyes Tim holds out a hand for Kon to take and when he does Tim pulls him up to his feet. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
Kon worries anyway. He always does. Reaching out he cups Tim’s face with his hands and draws Tim in for a kiss. His boyfriend instantly responds and Kon hums appreciatively. They keep it chaste and soon pull away, Tim taking Kon’s hand and never moving too far.
“C’mon, lets get out of here before Luthor changes his mind. We’ll have to talk about this once we’re home and work out what he’s on about.”
Following Tim's lead to the door, Kon shrugs. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
Together they exit the room and make their way out of the building. Kon certainly believes this has been an experience, thankfully neither of them were fatally harmed so it’s certainly not the worst experience they’ve had but it’s still not ideal. As Tim mentioned, they’ll talk about once they’re away from Luthor’s territory and safely hidden in their apartment.
I feel like the whole fight scene between Morgana and Douxie and Merlin is just another Thanksgiving dinner gone wrong or something. Anyone else get the high-key petty-sibling-feel /tired-dad-Merlin from it or was that just me?
Douxie: 😜🤘🎸
Morgana: A lute, really Douxie? Honestly, when you threw the frying pan at me last year you at least made it interesting.
Merlin: Children if you don't bEhAvE I'm turning this car around and we're going home.
I had a really clear and vivid dream once where I was an investigator looking into the disappearance of a little boy. I remember it had been awhile since he went missing. Anyway, I went to this decrepit old mansion, for some reason, to look for him. I went inside, and it was as dark and musty and filthy as you'd expect a seemingly-abandoned building to be. I went upstairs, following a noise I heard. There was a partially-opened door at the end of a hallway. I went inside, and there was this... huge man/spider hybrid. He'd placed a huge web all over the room, so it was hanging from every available surface. After looking at the web more closely though, I realized it was made out of human hair. FREAKING HUMAN HAIR. The boy, I vaguely remember, was being held prisoner by this thing. He wandered around inside the dark house, looking out of the windows once in a while, though he was too traumatized to escape. I never left that room with the human hair spiderweb. I was probably dinner that night. Explain that one, dream dictionary! O_O
